Japan Challenge 2017St Columba’s School Grade 3-6 students have been invited to participate in the 2017 Japan Challenge. The Japan Challenge is a poster competition where students submit a poster on a given topic which is then displayed at the Ballarat Library for the general public to view. A panel of judges choose three winning posters from each age group who are then invited to a special awards ceremony where they receive a prize!

This year’s topic is “High-Tech Japan”. The poster must be A3 size and be able to hang from the wall (ie. no 3D dioramas). The judges will be looking for originality, creativity, visual appeal and connection to the theme.

Grade 3-6 students will begin researching and creating their poster in week 1 of term 4, however some students may wish to get a head start over the holidays and are welcome to do so.

Japanese apps for studying at home!Many students are motivated to improve their Japanese skills by using their hiragana flashcards to self study - this is fantastic! To assist your children with their Japanese there are many engaging apps available for tablet devices. If you have a tablet device at home you could make a Japanese folder for these apps so that they are easy for your child to find. These are some of my favourite Japanese learning apps for children: Study Japanese Kana-Dojo, Hiragana Pixel Party, Japanese Cooking Mania, Hiragana memory hint English version by The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Learn Japanese with TicTic by Tinoon, Learn Japanese by MindSnacks, Dr Moku’s Hiragana Mnemonics, Learn to Write Hiragana - Japanese, and Learn Japanese With Tako.

Ganbatte kudasai (good luck) and happy studying! - Erica sensei.

Japanese books for studying at homeDr. Moku’s Hiragana mnemonics also comes as a handy little pocket book by Bob Byrne. It is very similar to the strategies we are using at school for learning hiragana which can be found in Hiragana in 48 minutes by Hiroko Quackenbush. Hiragana in 48 minutes is available in a student edition which includes a full set of flashcards. These books are available from bookdepository.com.au or may be ordered on request from Ballarat Books.